Bathe Me in Gasoline
by TLea
Summary: Jay hadn't felt sorry for Audrey. Now, however watching his boyfriend kiss Ben in front of the whole school,he had a new change of heart. This was a new kind of pain;a pain Jay never wanted to experience again. The match had lit, and it landed straight on Jay. Jay felt like his heart had been doused with gasoline and lit on fire,and now all that was left were ashes.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so when I wrote this I had planned on it being a one shot, but as I wrote it I got ideas for another chapter and possibly a third. So I will leave this as a oneshot but if enough people ask for me to continue, I will gladly write another chapter or two. It's all up to you guys!**

 **I would also like to make clear that I'm not really into Ben/Carlos, but I had to pick somebody to kiss Carlos, and I didn't want it being Chad or Doug or an OC, so I chose Ben. If Ben/Carlos makes you cringe, I'm sorry! If you like it, then yay!**

 **Anyways, enjoy.**

* * *

Jay's life train wrecked the minute he fell for his younger best friend. He knew it was over for him when he first started to get butterflies at the way Carlos smiled; when he had to stop himself from touching Carlos, afraid that he would act upon his feelings with the slightest of touch. The boy slowly became his world, and Jay had _hated_ it. Liking him made Jay's job a lot harder. He would screw up perfect stealing moments, too caught up in thinking about the blond haired freckled boy. He gave him feelings he had never had before, and he didn't want them. He didn't need them. Most of all, he hated that the boy had no clue. He was so innocent, dancing around like a lost puppy, slowly setting Jay's heart on fire. It made Jay feel much worse because he wasn't supposed to feel like he did. Not for his best friend.

On the Isle he had no intention of telling Carlos of his feelings. Feelings, which they weren't even supposed to have in the first place. He wasn't going to screw up a friendship over something that could very well be a simple infatuation. But then Jay does something stupid. He decides to let himself get close to Carlos, allow himself to wrap his arms around the boy again, and to let his fingers linger on the edge of Carlos' arm. He chides himself at first, because now it was only going to be harder to stop himself from doing whatever he might want to do to Carlos. However, he notices quickly that Carlos doesn't shy away from his touches, not even once. Sometimes he's almost positive Carlos actually leans into him when he does touch him, and Jay thinks then, maybe. Maybe this is okay.

So they slip into that for a while. They settle into the okay, and they are both happy. Okay consists of lingering touches and whispers meant just for them. There are no promises; no commitment. Just the two of them with no worries and flirty smiles. They're both fine with it, at least Jay had thought so, until one day they slip right out of okay and fall into hell.

It happened all at once, and Jay sometimes still can't believe it was real. He doesn't know why he let it happen but he does know they were joking around with each other in an alley way when Carlos stepped closer and grasped his lower arm. Jay remembered feeling as if his stomach had been rearranged into his throat, and a jolt of energy had rammed through him. In a split second Carlos' back was on the cement wall and Jay was plastered on top of him, hands grasped firmly on his sides and his mouth meshing with Carlos'. Carlos had let out a moan and Jay had gladly grinded against him, intertwining their tongues together.

He wanted to stop; knew he had to stop. They both had agreed a long time ago that this was not okay. This was hell, but it felt _so_ good. The thought of parting from Carlos only made Jay want him more. His hands roamed further and Carlos' hands grasped harshly at Jay's long hair.

Carlos is the one who stops it. He goes limp under Jay and Jay feels a harsh pressure on his chest as Carlos uses his fists to push him away. When Jay stumbles back he looks at Carlos with nervous eyes. Carlos' face is flushed and he's grasping at his shirt anxiously, shaking his head, mumbling incoherent thoughts.

" We can't," He had stated shakily, still trying to catch his breath. Jay had gulped heavily, shaking his head in response. He wanted to protest, to beg Carlos, that maybe this was the new okay, but he knew it could never be. Knew this would always be the hell, the unreachable. The restricted. Their only rule in their not relationship, because whatever they had going on was _not_ a relationship.

So Jay states simply, " I know."

This doesn't stop them from doing it again and again, however. They always manage to fall out of the okay and into danger zone. Jay hadn't considered it hell, not at first. It was something they agreed not to do, but it was still fucking amazing. Slowly, over months Jay knew why they had named it hell in the first place. It always ended the same. The mantra of "We can't" and " I know" always repeated afterwards. They'd slip back into the okay for a couple days and then they'd get each other alone at night and they'd fall right back into hell. Jay couldn't help it, neither could Carlos. They were each other's drug. They were addicted and they couldn't get enough.

It was fun at first, but then it got dangerous. It messed with their minds and their feelings. It left one or both hurt, and it started to end in arguments. They were slowly hurting each other, but they didn't stop. They couldn't stop. Jay tried, he tried so hard, but he didn't know how.

* * *

Carlos goes to find Jay one day, and he finds something he wishes he hadn't. Jay has a girl pinned to the wall with his hand up her fucking skirt, and Carlos can't help the gasp that escapes him. It startles the couple and they both turn sharply to look at the noise that sounded from the door. Jay jumps back immediately, looking like a child who had just sneaked a cookie from the cookie jar. Jay doesn't know why he reacted like he had been caught red handed, because it's not like him and Carlos were a thing. He could go around and kiss whomever he wanted to. Carlos wasn't sure why he was jealous, either. He knew Jay did this. (It was just different to see him actually doing it).

"Carlos!" Jay had shouted, surprised. He stepped forward and Carlos opens his mouth as if he's going to say something, but instead bites down on his lip and bolts out of the room.

Jay's chest tightens and he curses as he runs after Carlos. "Carlos!" He had shouted again, looking frantically through the litter of people. He shoves through the mass and when he spots the mop of white curls he picks up his pace and rams through passerby's to get to the boy in time.

Jay shouts his name again, but Carlos pays no attention. Jay groans in frustration as he leaps and pulls at Carlos' arm.

"What!" Carlos had snapped, eyes dark with familiar anger. Jay tenses, running a hand through his hair.

"You weren't supposed to see that," Jay stuttered lamely.

Carlos scoffed. "Obviously."

"Look, I'm sorry you-"

"I think we should stop hanging out," Carlos states suddenly, loud and clear above Jay's voice.

"What?" Jay's voice is strained, confused at the sudden confession.

"Whatever we're doing is not good. We have to end this," His voice wavers, but he stands tall.

"Carlos,"Jay pleads.

"We can't be around each other. Not anymore."

"Sure we can," Jay tries to smile."We can just go back to before. Back to normal, right?"

Carlos closes his eyes, gulping heavily. He lets out a shaky breath before stating,"No." He opens his eyes and Jay forces him to look at him."We can't be friends anymore. This is it."

Jay had been waiting for this; for Carlos to light his match and let whatever the hell this was, go up in flames.

He had just hoped it would never happen.

* * *

When they're invited to Auradon Jay doesn't like the idea. He's sure it's a trap of some sort, or some way to make them into a mockery. Then he finds out Carlos is invited, too, and he doesn't hate the idea of Auradon so much anymore.

Two days before they're supposed to leave Carlos comes up to Jay and smiles, muttering a meek, "Hey."

Jay is confused, because Carlos hasn't spoken to him in almost a year. But he responds back anyways. "Hey."

Carlos lets out a laugh, and Jay is still confused. After laughing Carlos says, " I guess we have to be friends again?"

Jay doesn't know what he means. Doesn't know why going to Auradon means they're _required_ to talk to each other again, but he's not going to reject it. He may've been pissed at the boy, but he had missed him a whole lot. And if this was the way he would speak to him again, then so be it.

"Yeah," He smiled and put his arm around the boy, and that was that.

* * *

If you had told Jay he would've survived living in Auradon for three months, he would've never believed you. If you told Jay him and Carlos would be best of friends again in that short of time span, he definitely would've never believed it. But it happened, and Jay was glad.

He thought it would be awkward to talk to Carlos again. Harder to keep his hands away from Carlos, harder for the both of them to restrain themselves, but it wasn't. Carlos seemed different, and Jay thought maybe that was why they were friends again. He notices new scars along Carlos back and he can't help but feel as if it were his fault. Like he could've stopped it in some way. He wants to ask Carlos, but he doesn't feel like he's worthy of knowing.

* * *

Two months into their stay at Auradon him and Carlos are practically attached at the hip. They laugh and talk to each other like nothing had ever been wrong between them. Carlos lets Jay hug him, and Carlos teaches Jay all the things he had learned on the Isle during their 'time apart.' They don't discuss their flings. It's burning in the back of their minds, but they both decide to leave it there, knowing if it is brought up then they'll go down in flames again. Jay and Carlos poke fun at each other like old times, and Jay still gets butterflies when Carlos lets his laugh loose, and Jay can't ever be thankful enough that he got his best friend back.

By the third month Jay is the most famous player on the Tourney team and Carlos never stops telling him how proud he is. Jay tries to tell Carlos that he's a great player too, but he never believes him. He ducks his head and denies several times, and Jay hates that. Old Carlos had never been like that. Jay hates that he missed seeing what caused this new Carlos to form. (And sometimes he can't help but think it was his fault).

* * *

It's a Friday and it's several hours before the big game. It has everyone at school on edge, and Carlos can't seem to stop talking about it.

"Do you think we'll win?" Carlos mumbled as he took a big bite of his sandwich, not bothering to chew with his mouth closed.

Jay cringed, but couldn't help but chuckle afterwards. " I hope so."

Carlos nods happily, saying incoherently," Me too."

* * *

It's two hours before the game is supposed to start and Jay is trying to find his Tourney jersey when Carlos comes barging into their room. Jay halts a moment while rummaging through his drawers to glance at the boy. He's fidgeting with his hands, something he did when he was scared, and his expression was one of nervousness.

Jay stands up straighter and begins to say, " Are you-" when suddenly his body is sent tumbling backwards and Carlos is upon him, grasping at his back, and the familiar pair of lips are against his own. Jay makes a surprised whimper in the back of his throat and has to fist the side of Carlos' t-shirt to regain his balance. Jay is confused and wants to push him away, but his body is in instinct mode. Instead of using his hands to push at Carlos' shoulders, they grasp at his sides and maneuver Carlos' head to get the perfect angle.

And here they were again. Perfectly settled in hell, and Jay has no clue how it happened. They had been doing so well. Everything was normal again and then suddenly Carlos comes in and sends them down the hole once more.

When they break apart, Jay can't help it when his body leans forward again and his mouth begins to nip along Carlos' jaw. Carlos makes a familiar sigh and Jay smiles against his freckled skin. Carlos fits his hands under the hem of Jay's shirt and attaches his nails onto the skin of Jay's hip.

After several minutes Jay finally picks up the will to pull away, and he breathes out heavily, "What?"

Carlos smiles timidly, gazing down at Jay's shirt instead of his dark eyes. "Can we try something?"

"Hmm?" Jay hums, still not able to form a coherent sentence.

"I was thinking," Carlos begins, slowly hiding his face from Jay. Jay frowns and pulls at the bottom of Carlos' chin. "I was thinking, maybe..maybe we could try," He pauses before stating, "dating."

Jay pales and his heart plummets. He has to prevent himself from stumbling away from Carlos. "D-Date?" He stutters out in disbelief.

"Yeah," Carlos thinks about stopping. Running out and pretending this never happened, but he couldn't back out now."It's different here. We don't have anything to worry about. We don't have our parents to obey anymore, and we can't hurt each other here."

Jay latches onto Carlos' arm, and he wishes he could get out a simple sentence. Dating was a weird concept. They never did it on the Isle, and now Carlos suddenly wanted to do it? Carlos wanted a relationship. And who was he kidding, Jay totally wanted one too.

"Yeah," Jay beams, licking his lips. He nods his head quickly,"Yeah, C. Let's date!"

Carlos laughs, jumping in the air, and Jay laughs back. Who would've thought Auradon could be so good to them?

* * *

Throughout the game Jay is beaming. He doesn't even care that they're tied, he just wants to get the stupid game over with so he can kiss Carlos senseless. He has to stop his eyes from wandering to Carlos sitting on the bench because it's causing him to miss goals, but like he said, he could really care less about that.

In the last minute and a half of the game the coach puts Carlos in, and Jay whoops excitedly. He gives Carlos a big thumbs up and he hopes he's able to keep his eyes off of him and on the goal instead. He's finding it hard, especially with the way Carlos is doing so well. It's a little surprising, because Carlos generally was not so enthusiastic to play the game. He watched as Carlos zipped past the kill zone and actually rammed someone to the ground. Jay found himself yelling and when he noticed Carlos was the one who had the ball and was aiming right at the goal, he was screaming and jumping up and down like a lunatic.

The cheers of the crowd got louder and right before the buzzer sounded, Carlos hit the ball and it flew through the goal. The crowd cheered and Carlos stood stunned, because no way did he just make the winning goal all by himself. Jay threw off his helmet and ran towards the crowd of people who had began to surround Carlos, applauding his victory.

Jay was about to make his way up to Carlos to give him the best congratulatory kiss he had ever received when Ben placed his arm around Carlos' waist. Jay slowed his running pace, and cocked his head curiously. He watched as Carlos turned his head to look at Ben and suddenly Ben was leaning down and their lips connected. Jay felt his stomach twist as he watched Ben kiss Carlos deeply, and Carlos do nothing about it. There were whoops from people in the crowd, but Jay hardly noticed them. He saw red and he felt like he couldn't breathe, because there was no way this was happening.

Jay hadn't felt sorry for Audrey. Now, however watching his boyfriend kiss Ben in front of the whole school, he had a new change of heart. This was a new kind of pain; a pain Jay never wanted to experience again.

The match had lit, and it landed straight on Jay.

Screw the match- Jay felt like his heart had been doused with gasoline and lit on fire, and now all that was left were ashes.

Who would've thought they would've gone up in flames so easily.


	2. Chapter 2

I want to thank (and dedicate this to) ofjaylos and sowhelmecl on tumblr. I was having personal issues and I had not planned on updating this tonight, or for a while, actually. Talking to them definitely gave me the push I needed to write this. So I hope you like it, I'm really proud of myself for finish it!

* * *

Jay wasn't sure what he was supposed to do; what he was supposed to feel. Should he yell at Carlos? Should he punch Ben? Was he supposed to be mad with Ben, too? He wanted to be, because he saw that Ben was obviously the one to initiate the kiss but Jay couldn't help but be angrier with Carlos because he had done _nothing_ to stop it. In the end, he decided that the noise of everyone cheering while Ben made out with his boyfriend was not something he wanted to hear. He had to get away; he had to be able to think. Plus Carlos would probably give him even more shit for causing a scene, and no one would want that, because god forbid Jay express feelings for once.

Jay felt stupid for thinking that him and Carlos could actually be together. Carlos had told him that they couldn't hurt each other at Auradon, but he was wrong. He felt worse than when Carlos told him he wanted to stop being friends. He should've just listened to his father when he told him that nobody would ever love him. He had been so dumb to think that his dad had been wrong, that maybe Carlos had loved him, or at least _liked_ him and didn't want to simply use him. God, how could he have been so stupid?

He was glad that the hallways were void of people, because he was able to stomp quickly down them and have no one question him. He didn't know where else to go, so he went to his room. He knew he would most definitely run into Carlos there later on, but he didn't mind. In fact, he wanted to talk to Carlos about the whole situation. Tell him how fucking awful it was to play with someone's emotions, especially with someone as fragile as Jay himself (not that he'd ever admit that, of course). At the very least, he would let Carlos explain himself and hopefully unlike other times, Carlos would be truthful about it.

When he arrived at his room, he immediately shrugged off his Tourney jersey and put on a simple black t-shirt. After he had put away his dirty clothes, he found himself pacing the room quite quickly, eagerly awaiting Carlos' return. When he realized what he was doing he mentally scolded himself. He was acting ridiculous over a stupid boy who couldn't, for the life of him, stop hurting Jay. He angrily kicked at the wall, startling Dude, who Jay gladly glared at. Jay knew Carlos wouldn't be back for a while, and since he still stunk from the game, and pacing around the room wouldn't make Carlos arrive any sooner, he decided he would take a shower.

By the time Jay had returned to the room from his shower, he had decided that he didn't need Carlos. All he really needed now was for Carlos to apologize. Jay had sketched out a plan in his head during the shower: When he saw Carlos he wouldn't explode with anger. He would ask why, and then he'd ask for an apology, and that'd be that.

The plan seemed perfect until he came back to his room and Carlos was petting Dude and suddenly by viewing the stupid boy's perfect freckles and ridiculous white hair, the anger came flooding back all at once. Towel clutched in hand, Jay slammed the door loudly to gain Carlos' attention. Carlos' hand flew back from Dude's fur, and he stood upright immediately, eyes wide. He was still in his post-game winning glory, with partially sweat drenched hair, glistening skin, and his over sized Tourney jersey with the ridiculously stupid cringe-worthy 101 gracing the back. He bit at his lip and wrung his hands together, prepared to talk, but Jay was quick to make sure he would be the one to get the first word.

"What the fuck was that!" Jay yelled, arm outstretched. Well, there went his plan of being perfectly calm.

"You saw that?" Carlos blanched, playing with his hands nervously. He knew Jay had probably seen it; moments before Ben had decided it was perfectly okay to kiss him in public, Carlos had spotted Jay in the crowd. So, yeah, he had seen it, but he still wished he hadn't.

"Everyone saw it!" Jay threw the towel onto his bed and stomped up to Carlos, poking him at his shoulder. Carlos frowned, taking a step back.

"Okay," Carlos swallowed heavily. "Let me explain."

"Yeah, why don't you," Jay bit out sarcastically.

Carlos knew Jay was going to be mad, hell he was mad at himself too, but telling him this could possibly help their relationship later on, so Carlos was willing to risk it. "Ben and I sorta had this thing going on..."

"Thing—what-"

" You know..it was like when you and I had a thing back on the Isle?" Carlos was trying really hard to dance around the subject, because he definitely did not want to outright say it.

Jay's eyes go wide in recognition, and Carlos tries to ignore the fact that he had both of his fists clenched. Carlos could practically see the anger coming off Jay in waves.

Those words had been a giant stab in Jay's heart, and he didn't want to believe the words he was hearing. Had Carlos seriously been hiding something from him? "What the hell, Carlos! Why didn't you tell me? Why the—"

"Shut up and let me talk!" Carlos pushed at Jay's shoulder angrily. "When we first got here, I was feeling lonely, and I didn't want to risk anything with you. So once I realized Ben seemed to be the only person giving me the type of attention I was wanting, I went for it. Yeah, Jay, we hooked up and told nobody about it. We both decided it would be best that way."

Jay had to bite his tongue to keep himself from shouting out. He knew Carlos deserved to explain, but he really didn't want to hear anymore. It wasn't that he was mad about Carlos hooking up with someone else, because he himself had hooked up with a couple of girls since arriving at Auradon, so it would be hypocritical of him to give Carlos shit for it. What he was angry about was the fact he had kept it hidden from him. The trust that he had thought he had in Carlos had dropped a massive amount.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me, Carlos! I thought we agreed a long time ago to not keep secrets?"

"You were the one to make that stupid agreement, I never actually agreed. It's my business anyways, so there was no point in telling you."

"And what about Mal?" Jay smirked, thinking he had Carlos trapped.

"Most of it happened before Mal and him started dating. There were only like two times that we did anything while he was with Mal. I felt really bad, so I told him we should stop. Look, I didn't know he was going to do that, Jay!" Carlos ignored the fact that he had been with Ben while he was dating Audrey. He tried to feel bad, but since he barely knew the girl, he couldn't find the room in him to care. (Not that he'd tell that to Jay or anything).

"What? Kiss _my_ so called boyfriend in front of the whole fucking school?" Jay chuckled dryly, shaking his head. He ran his hand through his hair angrily as he takes a step back from Carlos.

"No, I didn't! I'm sorry!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you are."

"Jay! We hadn't done anything in almost a month. I thought we were done. I was just as shocked as you were when he kissed me!" Carlos' voice was getting shaky and he cursed himself for getting emotional. This was not how he wanted the rest of the day to go. He had been hoping to take Jay for ice cream or to a movie or something else stupid, not to have a petty fight with him.

"Oh? Is that why you kissed him back?" Jay wanted to believe him, but he couldn't. His mind wouldn't let him believe that the boy standing in front of him was innocent. He was so used to the hurt that the boy caused, that he didn't really believe Carlos could bring him anything but that.

Carlos groaned in frustration, throwing a hand to his hair. "Jesus, Jay! If you had fucking stayed you would have realized I pulled back _immediately_ and told him that I was most definitely, without a doubt dating you and no longer wanted any part in his games."

Jay closed his mouth and takes another step back. He blinks several times as he stares at Carlos. He didn't know what to say, or what he was supposed to do. Jay decides he'll let his brain do the talking, so out slips: "You said we couldn't hurt each other here, Carlos. But you did. It hurt like hell. Still does, actually."

Carlos steps forward to grab at Jay's arm, but retracts it when Jay flinches back. "I'm so sorry, Jay. You mean the whole fucking world to me, and I can't believe I already fucked this up. Ben and I are done, and he even said he'd apologize to you personally. So now it's just you and me, Jay. Just you and me."

Jay breathes heavily, speaking shakily. "I—I don't know if I want that anymore."

Carlos pales, stepping toward Jay again. "What, no. Ja—"

"Carlos, stop." Carlos shuts his mouth, biting down on his lip. "That was a really big secret to keep from me, Carlos. I don't know why you didn't think you could trust me with it. We say we'll stop hurting each other, but it never happens. It's a constant cycle and I don't think it'll ever stop. The constant pain, it's not something I deserve, Carlos, and you don't deserve it either. You are amazing, Carlos, but we don't deserve this. We don't deserve each other."

"No, Jay. You know that's not true. If you believed what you were saying right now, you wouldn't have agreed to date me this morning. Jay, _please_."

Jay wavers as he eyes Carlos, who is pleading desperately with him. He can tell Carlos is close to crying, something Jay had never meant to cause and he wants to say: "See, this is exactly what I mean. We'll never stop hurting each other." But he doesn't, because he thinks of what Carlos is saying. The words he had spoken did have some meaning. Because deep down, Jay did want something with Carlos other than meaningless flings.

So he decides to say, "I don't know, C. I just—I need to think on it. Okay? Just give me time to think."

Carlos nods quickly, wiping at his eyes to prevent the tears from falling. "Yeah, of course."

Jay smiles at his response, and he glances around the room awkwardly. He shuffles his feet on the floor and glances to the door. "I'm gonna go, uh walk and think this through."

Carlos nods at him and Jay grabs his jacket, throwing it on as he dashes out of the room. When his feet hit the hallway floor he feels like he can breathe again.

* * *

On his walk, he runs into Mal and Evie. They try to talk to him, but he brushes them off at first. Then he gets an idea, and he decides that maybe they can help him with his problem. He's a little weary to explain it at first, because Mal is there. He knows Mal had seen Ben kiss Carlos, but he still decided to leave out the fact that Ben had cheated on her twice with Carlos. If she were to ever find out, that was Ben or Carlos' place to tell her. So with a shaky breath, he tells them everything. He explains about their situation back on the Isle, and they only scoff in reply, saying they had figured that out long ago. Jay is surprised by that and he ignores them when they make fun of him for blushing.

He then tells them that Carlos had asked him out that morning, and they both squeal in delight. Evie claps her hands enthusiastically and Mal just says "Finally." He scolds them for getting excited, and they're confused at first, but then they remember what they had witnessed on the Tourney field two hours ago.

"Oh," Evie said, lowering her hands back down to her sides. Mal scowls in memory and Jay tries to hurry the conversation a long. When he explains that Carlos had apologized, and he had responded that he wasn't sure if he wanted to still date him, Evie had asked an odd question.

"Does he make you happy?"

Jay, caught off guard, stepped back in confusion while lowering his eyes at Evie. "What?"

"It's a simple question, Jay. Does he make you happy?"

Jay looks between the two girls, acting as if he had been caught in a trap. "I mean..why does that matter?"

Mal laughed sarcastically, bumping shoulders with Evie. She loved Jay to death, but damn, he could be so idiotic sometimes. "Look, we'll answer for you. The answer would be yes. Ever since you and Carlos started being friends again, you have been a complete joy to be around. You're constantly smiling, and you actually laugh at things Jay."

Jay shrugs. "Okay...I guess, yeah, lately he's been making me really happy."

"Then there's your answer," Evie chirps, smiling wide.

"How? No, that's stupid Evie. It doesn't matter how happy he makes me. We still—"

"Hurt each other, yeah, I know," Evie mumbled, rolling her eyes as she pushed back a piece of hair with her perfectly manicured nails. "You can work with that. You should at least try, alright? Every relationship has hurt in it. It's not perfect. Jay if he makes _you_ happy, then you should try. You deserve to be happy. In my opinion, I think you're only hurting each other because you're afraid to have a real relationship."

Jay looks pointedly at Evie. "So you really think I could be happy with Carlos? Have a relationship with him?"

"Yes!" Mal shouts, exasperated.

"You deserve it. After everything _you've_ been through Jay, you deserve to be happy and feel what it's like to love someone and to be loved back."

Though he had said nothing about _loving_ Carlos, he decided not to correct Evie. He only shook his head and smiled wide, ecstatic with his decision.

"Okay..Okay, yeah! I know what I'm going to do. Thank you, guys."

* * *

Carlos is startled when the door is ripped open and Jay comes stumbling in, nearly face planting as he trips over his feet. Carlos raises his brow in confusion and climbs off his bed and walks toward Jay slowly.

"Carlos, Carlos!" Jay shouts, rushing towards Carlos, grabbing him by his shoulders.

"What?" Carlos laughs weakly, testing the waters. He gazes at Jay curiously, wondering what had caused the drastic mood change in the thief.

"Yes. Yes, Carlos. You and me. Yes."

"Yes?" Carlos smiles wide.

"You make me happy, Carlos. Like, really really happy, and we deserve that. I was wrong, we deserve each other and we deserve to be happy."

Carlos grins, laughing. "You make me really happy, too."

"Oh thank god," Jay breathes as he pulls Carlos to his body, trapping him in a bear crushing hug. He tightens his arms around Carlos' waist and fits his nose into the top of Carlos' hair. He can feel the vibration against his chest as Carlos laughs.

When they pull away, Jay is quick to place his lips onto Carlos'. Carlos laughs again, and Jay smiles against his teeth, pulling him closer. They kiss like they haven't been together in years, and there's so much desperation that Jay is sure they look like horny idiots. After they pull back for a breath, Jay pulls Carlos in for a hug again.

"Just no more secrets." Jay mumbles into his hair. Carlos leans back and looks up at Jay.

"Yeah, I promise." Jay grins at the response and ducks his head to the side to give Carlos' cheek a quick peck. Jay can't seem to quit smiling and Carlos can't quit laughing. Who would've thought they could be so happy? At that moment, Jay wished his father could see him. That he could shove in his face that he had found somebody who cared for him. That he was everything his father never wanted him to be and more.

"Well, looks like we got that happy ending our parents vowed so hard to get." Carlos laughs as he squeezes Jay's hand. Jay looks down at the boy and Carlos notes the way Jay's eyes seem to sparkle with glee. Jay laughs along with Carlos as he squeezed his hand tighter.

"Yeah, and we deserved it."


End file.
